"Home is behind the world ahead
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadow to the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight.

Mist and shadow
Cloud and shade
All shall fade
All shall fade"

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Analysis as requested by anon apr 3 '15
by tripfag eetzq12
Below is his text:

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"The Edge of Night" is actually an shortened part of Tolkien's "A Walking Song". It goes:
Upon the hearth the fire is red,
Beneath the roof there is a bed;
But not yet weary are our feet,
Still round the corner we may meet
A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
Let them pass! Let them pass!
Hill and water under sky,
Pass them by! Pass them by!
Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe,
Let them go! Let them go!
Sand and stone and pool and dell,
Fare you well! Fare you well!
Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
The world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back to home and bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
Fire and lamp, and meat and bread,
And then to bed! And then to bed!"

[[his post continues here]]

More than anything, it is representative just to how much Tolkien delved into his own universe. He actually created poems in mind of their continuity in his own universe; chronologically even. To explain this, you have to take into account the etymology of the text, and why Hobbits using it is so strange:

Hobbits, to begin, have no exact history. However, they began in the Anduin River Valley (presumably long after men and elves were introduced), and based on Tolkien's references to their "birth of land", it is reasonable to assume they were just a form of humans that were just really short. Their location, however, suggests based on the schism of Naelin that they only could have came from the western kingdoms. And since the Haeln were strictly inter-folk, that leaves only the Numenoreans as candidates for their ancestors (for proof: Simarillion states pg. 148 FRSTR that "the folk of the Numenor whom sailed east, even the elves cannot name the history of. Perhaps their ships sailed in peace, and they as well"). The sentence heavily implies they're the ancestors of Hobbits.

The most important part of this is that "A Walking Song", in Numenorean translate (their language was sort of similar, but had a lot of weird lingo) doesn't match as part of their history. The Numenoreans were all about "expanse and adventure", and more than anything hated the idea of stagnation (hence the reason Manwe fucked them royally when they tried to conquer the western Godland). Now you're probably thinking "Whatever, Tolkien couldn't keep continuity all the time, he's bound to screw up and forget intent every now and then". Except he didn't. Because "A Walking Song" is based off of another piece by the Maiar, known as "The Known Peace."

Basically, the Maiar were the angel equivalents in the Silmarillion; they carried out the will of the Valar, since the Valar only imposed themselves involved into super dire situations (War of Wrath / Fall of Gondolin, etc). While "The Known Peace" is a Maiar piece, it's was carried by Sauron, who actually taught it to the Numenoreans, though the lyrics were a bit different. To show what it meant in their pseudo-English:

The fire is red,
The stone's vigilance and stare
That none have seen but the old.
Tree and flower and leaf and grass,
Mountain and ocean,
And still there waits,
The one gate,
And take the hidden paths that run,
Past the Moon or to the Sun.
Through shadows to the wall of night,
Until the stars have lost their light
The world behind,
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
All shall fade.
Before the faded.

You can see why it was strange for this song to be Maiar even in origin, since it concerns the dying of light and the concept of the "stare" (a motif that Tolkien continually revives when referring to anything dark).

Interpreter's first instinct is to usually infer that Sauron himself created it to pass to the Numenoreans. But it has to be considered that the lines, particularly at the end, contradict Sauron's own personal ideals. Despite his actions, Sauron's intention was to never destroy Arda, but to bring it under his own control. That is why he preferred the use of Orcs and Ringwraiths, and created the Rings; to bring Arda under unity, for like the other lords, he felt that it could never be whole or complete without total control under one entity and race (hence the "one ring"). So this poses a paradox; the poem supposedly held by Sauron says the opposite of what he believes; he was evil, but never meant to do away with creation.

The only way TRC and I found out the origin was by literally matching the poem to all language indexes (fucking Elvish). None of it fits, except to "Black Tongue" (original language of Sauron). However, there was a strange occurrence when matching; the phrases that contained anything physical, such as "cloud, mist, path, mountain, ocean, grass, flower, leaf, tree, fire, shade, gate, and wall" did not translate correctly unless the words were removed from them. Which is weird, because it leaves with missing nouns. But through this, we were able to actually discover why that was:

ALAR NARRAN VAIMUR ENDULL ARGOTH
ET ADAA MARR
ET ADAA MAEL
GORR DOLGUR MORTO SHASEN
GORR DUL MORG
ET MORGOTH

"The Faded" in Numenorean refers to Morgoth. The only line that correctly translates to the Valar tongue is:

DOLGUR MORG ARDA
ET MELKOR

The only line Melkor ever technically spoke was what was shown above. It says "All shall fade before the faded". These were the words he spoke following Arda's creation. Thus reveals why none of the physical words in the Black Tongue worked: Melkor hated what creation represented so much, when speaking in the Valar Tongue, he refused to acknowledge the physical. That's why the poem didn't match with Sauron either: it represents the fading and dying of all things, which, in the end, was Melkor's goal: to destroy everything Illuvatar had allowed to be born, out of his hatred for it. Melkor's search for the Eternal Flame before the world's birth made him desire to be even greater than Illuvatar; he wanted complete dominion of time and creation; and when he was refused it, he would have rather seen existence end than be forced to watch a world that was not his live.

The lines Melkor spoke were known as "The Dusk" to the Mandos, who saw some things, past and future at some point. Mandos, unlike Illuvatar, had no control over Doom, and thus could only know certain events. "The Dusk" refers his prophesy of Dagor Dagorath, in which he knows that Melkor cannot be killed through imprisonment, and thus must fall to the very thing he created: war. The Valar saw this as the ultimate representation of Melkor's victory: he had lowered the world into an endless cycle of death and destruction, to the point that his own annihilation would not end the hatred of Marred Arda.

In the end, this is why Illuvatar created men. They were beings of easy swayability due to their mortality; but this attribute was the very reason they were the doom of Melkor. Not even Melkor himself could foresee humanity transforming his message into a challenge, rather than a "truth". "A Walking Song", in the end, is a representation of why Melkor's million-year plan failed; Illuvatar's intention, unlike what Melkor believed, was not to make men like elves, who answered to every call the gods sent. They were a force unable to be stopped due to their will to survive. Illuvatar made them mortal in order to imbue in them the desire for life. Melkor could never band them together to destroy creation, for they above all else valued life, and would not relinquish it for all the power and Silmarils in the world.

"A Walking Song" shows how a message, even one as marred and destructive as Melkor's, can be transformed by men. If Melkor could see Hobbits as they were, he would realize his plan had failed, because despite every woe of the world, peace could still exist. Even when Dagor Dagorath happens, men will not fall, because they will fight Melkor with every ounce of strength to save the life they have fought so preciously for.

Tolkien, from the beginning, forged the simple line "DOLGUR MORG ARDA, ET MELKOR", and transformed it into a message representative of his own view of men. From the moment he started his first book, to his deathbed, he nurtured it as quite possibly the longest analogy in history.

I don't care if this shit is long. You fuckers post this whenever anyone accuses Tolkien of being incompetent.